Garithos

"Lord Taelan, there's a scruffy-looking man outside the camp asking for you. He says the two of you were childhood friends and that he came here especially to see you. Would you like to go take a look?"

A soldier in red-and-white armor reported to Taelan Fordring, who was practicing against a straw dummy with a wooden sword in hand.

Though each of Taelan's swings made the air whistle, the straw dummy remained completely unharmed. An outsider watching would surely have laughed at him, but the soldier looked on with nothing but admiration. He knew that every one of Taelan's swings carried tremendous force, yet just as his heavy sword was about to strike the dummy, Taelan pulled all his strength back. He wielded the sword as if it were light as a feather. Taelan had already begun to show a hint of his father's bearing.

"Phew..."

After lowering his sword, Taelan let out a long breath. He took a handkerchief from the guard and wiped the sweat from his brow, then said,

"I'll go take a look."

Outside the camp stood a scruffy but powerfully built man, perfectly upright. Taelan could tell at a glance that he had once been a soldier.

"May I ask who you are?"

Recognizing the man's background naturally made Taelan feel a little closer to him. But to his surprise, the man said nothing and immediately swung a fist at him.

"What are you doing?!"

"You bastard! How dare you attack Lord Taelan!"

"Get back!"

Seeing the scruffy man attack Taelan, the surrounding soldiers drew their swords and rushed at him, eager to protect Taelan. But Taelan stopped them.

"Stand aside! Let me handle this!"

Taelan raised an arm to catch the man's punch, then dipped low, stepped in, and slammed into him, knocking